Rev10
by minmb82
Summary: rev10


**Chapter 10**

_Raista, 12 Hiraa , 4408, Faey Orthodox Calendar_

_ Wednesday, 22 August 2022 Terran Standard Calendar_

_ Raista, 12 Hiraa, year 1333 of the 97__th__ Generation, Karinne Historical Reference Calendar_

_Aderi Karinne Training Facility, Kosigi _

When Jason said that _everyone_ was going to be involved in training the new Generations, he was serious.

They were in one of the largest of the auditoriums in the training facility on Kosigi, where 377 ship captains and upper echelon members of the KMS were listening to a lecture given by Jason in the basics of splitting, preparing to do a simple exercise that would be displayed in front of them by hologram. This was the second phase of the day's training, where this morning Jason had worked with them to let them get the hang of communion. The early afternoon lesson was him explaining how splitting worked. Splitting wasn't very hard, but for people whose brains had always worked in "serial," them suddenly having "parallel" capability was going to be a touch confusing. It had been for Jyslin and Dahnai. Tomorrow, he would walk them through the basics of TK and teach them the exercises the Pai had developed to teach their kids how to manifest their ability. The entire day would be devoted to TK training. The day after that, they would do gestalt training, since all members of the KMS would have access to tactical gestalts and would be issued personal imprinted gestalts. And when that was done, he would do the same three day course again with a new class of ship captains. And over, and over, and over, until there was no one left to teach.

Right now, the original Generations were being run nearly ragged. All of them were giving lessons like this one, teaching their new cousins the basic abilities of communion and splitting. The TK was going to be handled differently and over time for the civilians, but all KMS personnel would receive TK training because they may need it in combat. Civilians would have the option to learn TK in an Academy course that Ayuma and Mrar were developing, but it wouldn't be part of the basic training they were getting now. Aya had put her foot down about him giving classes to the general public, so he was instead put on the schedule for the KMS, which Aya felt was trustworthy enough to be in the same room with him for extended periods of time. Since Jason was a member of Unit Alpha, one of the few Generations that trained to fight using their ability, he was an ideal teacher for the KMS. The other members of Unit Alpha were doing KMS courses as well, but they reserved the top tier of KMS ship captains and personnel like the command staff and Kosigi's management staff for Jason. Because of that, he saw many very familiar faces in the crowd, like Palla, Jeya, Juma, Sioa, Dellin, Haema, Kiya, Marayi, Sevi, Koye, as well as the upper command staff of the KES and the captains of the mobile bases (the super-ships) and Vanguard class ships that were in, like Rudy, Aloa, Kr'Vass, and Erim.

While Generations did that, the telepathic members of the house were teaching the formerly non-telepathic members the basics of telepathy It was imperative that they did so, because a newly expressed telepath, unable to close her mind, was a danger to anyone and everyone around her. If they lashed out, if they suffered a schism, or even worse, a psychotic break, it would take a powerful and well trained telepath to subdue her without doing any permanent harm. Jason had already put the most powerful telepaths in the house before they became Generations, like Yana, on a task force that would have to go subdue anyone that lost control, and if they couldn't handle it, an original Generation using a tactical gestalt would be deployed to handle it.

Of course, it required a bit of a demonstration as to exactly how deceptively powerful splitting was to make them appreciate the power for what it could do, and that was Jason controlling ten different avatars in the Merge Combat Simulator, which was a military-only version of the game _Vanguard_, shown on different holograms in front of the audience. The ability to focus on more than one thing at a time was one of the main reasons he was such a good rigger, able to manage all of a mecha's systems and also keep his attention on everything going on around him at the same time. "While TK will be much more flashy, this ability, the ability to split, can be your greatest weapon," he said, having the ability to split again to speak to the audience as he played the game with ten different avatars. Each avatar in the match was doing something different, which made it clear that Jason wasn't just marching them all the same direction as a unit or something. "Even maintenance and damage control personnel can benefit from splitting while doing their jobs, but its greatest usefulness is for command staff and tactical personnel in combat. You, your exo, your bridge crew, your tactical officer, and your tactical asset personnel, your Tarks, gunners, fighter pilots, and riggers, should work the hardest on your ability to split, giving you the ability to manage all the information coming in during combat and allowing you to analyze it without losing your focus on the immediate situation. So this is a skill that all of you need to practice, practice, practice," he stressed. "It'll be a while until you can do what I'm doing, but all of you should be able to do this effectively with a couple of months of practice. It may look a bit confusing, but trust me. Once you get the hang of it, it's not that bad," he assured them. This is the fundamental difference between how a Generation's brain works and how a non-Generation's brain works," he told them. "Communing depends on our ability to send with a large bandwidth, in effect sending different flavors of our thought on different mental channels all at the same time. Splitting is the application of that bandwidth in other ways. Very few races have the ability to do multiple mental tasks at once, and I think most of you can guess which races those are without having to think about it too hard." He ended the game, the holograms vanishing. "Alright, everyone pick up the controllers in the pocket on the seatback or dividing wall in front of you, and we'll start your first practical lesson in splitting.

"We're using manual controllers for this instead of your interface because the ability to control your body while splitting is a learned skill," he said as they did as he instructed. "It takes practice to control your body while split without your splits fighting over which one is supposed to be in charge of moving you, which can lead to some motor control and balance issues. So, to do this right, you'll be practicing your splitting while performing manual tasks, to give you a taste of it. And remember, all of you, that all of your splits have to share your senses. Only one split can control your eyes at a time, so the other splits you've got going have to share what you see. Now, everyone make sure the controller that resembles a writing pen is in your main hand and the joystick is in your off hand," he said, picking up two controllers from the podium, "and we'll get started."

He then spent nearly two hours helping them with a simple game where they had to draw a series of shapes using different factors, like size or color or number of sides, on one hologram while on the other they had to navigate a small avatar through a maze using the joystick. The holograms were just far enough apart to make them have to learn how to share their vision between splits, which was something they needed to learn to do. He roamed the auditorium, stopping to give advice here and there to those struggling with the exercise, and saw that some were picking it up much faster than others. Sioa, that old warhorse, seemed to get the trick of it almost immediately, completing the exercise in nearly record time—if there was a record—while Koye struggled with it to the point where Jason sat down with her for a good fifteen minutes and explained what she was feeling as she tried to split her attention, then walked her through it step by step. She seemed to do much better after that, getting the hang of using each hand independently as her eyes darted between the two holograms, one hand drawing on the flat hologram as the other moved the joystick to and fro to get her little dot through the maze.

After the exercise, their day was officially over…but most of them lingered in the auditorium, talking among themselves and to Jason. The "sorority" of ship captains was an exclusive one, but they rarely had the chance to talk to each other quite this way. So, whenever a large group of ship captains gathered in one place, they spent quite a while catching up with each other. Jason counted himself lucky that he was allowed into their little world, moving from small group to small group trading kisses, chatting, and giving little bits of advice and observations about how the next two days were going to go.

`He boarded a corvette to be taken back home, which was one of the few ships right now that could put enough of a crew onto it to make it operational. If anyone attacked right now, the KMS was in no shape to fight them off, given that 61% of the KMS' active duty and reserves were all on medical leave to undergo transition. The only ships that were active right now were the ones that had been out on missions when the crisis hit and were recalled, and they were going to stay isolated until enough Navy personnel were back on active duty before they'd be allowed to undergo transition themselves.

`The same was true for the KES. Every single member of the KES had been recalled to Karis, and some of them would take 20 days to get back here, they were so far out. When they did arrive, they'd be offered the same option Jason gave to everyone else, to become Generations or not…and thus far, not a _single member_ of the KMS or KES had declined the offer.

_[Only my first day and I'm tired already,]_ Jason complained a little to Dera as they headed back to Karis. _[And to think, I'll be doing this every day for the next fifty years.]_

She gave him an amused look. _[I'm sure you'll live,]_ she replied, her commune strong and effortless. All the guards had gotten commune down quickly, but they had a lot more to learn before they truly mastered the medium. And they intended to master it fully, because it was their duty as Imperial Guards to be the absolute best at everything they did. Ryn was already under the tutelage of the most skilled Generation telepaths, the twins Ela and Ezi, who were both graduates of the Xerian Academy themselves. They weren't as powerful as women like Saelle and Jyslin, but they were more _skilled_…and telepathy was one of those abilities were skill sometimes mattered more than power. The twins would teach Ryn everything there was to know about communion, how it differed from standard telepathy and the tricks she could pull off using it, and then Ryn would teach the rest of the Guard.

_[I'm almost used to hearing you do that,]_ Jason noted dryly, glancing in her direction. In his opinion, Dera was the most attractive of the guards dispatched to Karis.

_[I'm getting used to it myself. I like it better than regular telepathy. It's more…more…encompassing. Complete.]_

_ [It's how we have always talked to each other,]_ he nodded. _[If someone can commune, then I commune with them. Even with someone like Mrar, at least before she was changed. Even with her limited bandwidth in communion, I preferred it over regular telepathy. So did she, for that matter.]_

_ [Sounds like she's ecstatic to get the full meal.]_

_ [Relatively, but right now she's too busy to do much of anything. Just like me,]_ he told her, his thought wry and a little intimidated. _[Mrar and Samin been running around like headless chickens for four days now.]_

_ [We're probably the most to blame for that,]_ Dera noted with amusement.

_[Yeah, so I wouldn't be flirting with Samin anytime soon. As surly as he is, he'd bite your head off,]_ he warned, which made her return pure amusement.

_[Jason, you need to come to the annex immediately,]_ Songa called over the network.

_[I'm halfway back to Karis from Kosigi, dear. It'll be about half an hour or so.]_

_ [Go faster,]_ came her terse reply, which made him frown. She only got like that she had bad news.

_[Great, more bad news,]_ he intimated with a forlorn sigh. _Change of plans, take me to the Karsa annex as fast as you can get me there,_ he told the pilot, who had yet to transition.

_Yes, your Grace._

_ [Makes me wonder what will become of commune-capable interfaces after this,]_ Dera mused, tapping her interface. _[We don't really need them anymore.]_

_ [They'll still be useful,]_ he answered. _[Now you can merge to it without it being jacked in.]_

They got him to the annex fairly quickly, mainly since Jason could bypass the security checkpoint at the only open gate in the shield. He hurried into the situation room where Songa, Kereth, and their respective staffs were still hard at work, though now they were doing research and observation of the transition process instead of trying to find a cure for the virus. The research was into the virus itself, so they could understand how it was made and possibly come up with a counter to it if it ever showed up again. "I'm here," he announced. "What happened?"

"To put it bluntly, cousin, the virus has broken containment," Kereth told him. "A significant number of new cases have appeared on Kirri'arr."

"But they had it contained!"

"It got into the _symbiotes_, dear," Songa told him wearily. "And they didn't detect it. The virus managed to get into the symbiotes, mostly likely before Krirara's house was quarantined. And the Kirri have had no more luck detecting the virus within a symbiote than we have."

He looked at a map of Kirri'arr that Kereth brought up, showing new cases all over the planet, and it all but made his heart sink. They'd had it contained! The worst was supposed to be over! But now they were looking at the absolute worst case scenario, and that was the virus loose in another empire…and it was the _Karis_ strain of the virus, which would genetically adapt to anyone that contracted it that had a sufficiently evolved brain to accept the alterations. The only saving grace in all this was that the Kirri were not an aggressive empire, and they were one of the few species he could stomach being transformed into Generations.

The key now was to prevent the virus from getting out of Kirri space. And also to prevent anyone from getting _in_ when news of the outbreak hit the Confederation.

"Cybi," he called, and she manifested a small hologram over the table. "Get in touch with Moderator Krazrou and tell him we'd like to help the quarantine effort by interdicting every planet and station in Kirri space until the virus is gone, and we'll have the KMM handle cargo traffic and supplies during the disruption."

_ "Clever,"_ Cybi nodded. _"I'll contact him immediately."_

"Keeping the other empires from sending agents to Kirri'arr to be deliberately infected by the virus," Kereth said with an approving nod.

"That's the idea," he nodded. "I guess if the virus was going to get out, we lucked out that it happened with the Kirri. At least I know they won't turn around and try to use their new powers to conquer the universe."

Songa had to spare a chuckle. "That would be the most un-Kirri thing ever," she agreed.

"We would gladly accept the Kirri as cousins," Kereth nodded. "They are quite agreeable to the Kimdori."

Jason stayed in the annex to organize the full blockade of Kirri space with Krazrou, who was amenable to Jason's offer. Jason was quite fond of Krirara's replacement, because he shared many of the same traits with her, traits that were crucial to be the Moderator. He was intelligent, observant, unflappable, well-spoken, prone to negotiation, and eminently practical, the hallmark trait of the Kirri race. Like Krirara before him, he gained the position of Moderator by convincing the other members of the council that he was the best choice, so he was quite a dangerous man to face across from a negotiating table. But, in some ways, he didn't simply replace Krirara in the council. He had a different circle of friends, different alliances and allegiances, and Jason wasn't in Krazrou's inner circle, nor was Krazrou in his. They did have a sincere friendship, but it was a _working _relationship. Krazrou didn't hang out with Jason the way Krirara did when she was Moderator.

It took nearly two hours to get everything arranged, and then he went to the office, where he picked right up where he left off with Krazrou, switching from the logistics of keeping the Kirri supplied to a more secure discussion about what was coming for the Kirri and what they could do to mitigate the impact of the virus. That included bringing King Mrrshan into the discussion, since the Kirri had so few telekinetics among them that they had no real idea how to go about teaching the changed Kirri how to use it. That more or less required them to bring Mrrshan into the secret, but Jason trusted Mrrshan and the Pai. He wouldn't reveal that until Krazrou did.

After another three hours of indepth discussion, he leaned back in his chair and turned it to look out the window. Somehow, he had the feeling that it wasn't going to end with the Kirri. Their worlds were infused with symbiotes, and if just one infected symbiote got into a transport or cargo ship in that window after the virus reached Kirri'arr and before the planet was quarantined, then the infection was going to spread. And since the Kirri relied on outside trade so heavily for many of the things they needed, it meant that the infection could spread almost _anywhere_. The odds were very high that the infection had spread to other planets in Kirri territory, because Kirri'arr was the hub of all trade for the Kirri. All cargo and goods from outside came through Kirri'arr, and was then routed to its destination. But there was also a good chance that the virus had gotten out, because the symbiotes would be aboard those cargo ships when they returned to their home empires.

He pulled up some intel from the Kimdori, a list of the Kirri's strongest trading partners, information that Krazrou didn't know Jason had, then cross-referenced it with the cargo shipments that moved in and out of Kirri space in an estimated window when the virus was uncontained and undetected. He pulled up the incubation time from Songa's mainframe and then checked it against that list, then identified the four most likely empires that had infected symbiotes in them; the Aridai, the Grimja, the Ogravians, and, oddly enough, the Subrians. The Subrians had a ton of trade treaties with the Kirri, formed both during and after their membership in the Confederation. The three Confederation members…he could stomach it if the infection spread there. None of them were inherently aggressive, and in the case of the Grimja, they were fairly trustworthy. But the Subrians, that was a problem. Not only were they a fairly aggressive empire, they were outside the Confederation. If the Subrians were infected, they may spread it through the entire Coalition…and then the Coalition may attack Karis to gain access to biogenic technology. Jason trusted Holikk and the Subrians up to a point, but he did _not_ trust the Coalition as a whole. There were too many empires in it that wanted to be top dog in the galaxy, to the point where they'd conceivably go to war with the Confederation to assert their dominance.

If the infection got out of the Confederation…he didn't want to think about that at the moment.

He discussed his worries with Miaari, who was in her office. Her hologram was projected in front of the window rather than over his desk. "We've been keeping an eye on all Kirri trading partners, but the four you mentioned do have the best chance. I've noted this to Denmother, who has Kimdori in position to alert us if any sign of the virus appears outside of Kirri territory."

"Good. I swear, Mee, this is going to give me gray hair," he said, rubbing his temples.

"Given how smoothly things have gone on Karis and in the Imperium, cousin, maybe this isn't as bad a thing as it appears," she ventured. "There have been only a very few reported cases of telepathic episodes, mostly on Terra. Things in the Imperium are quite calm, almost routine. The Faey are simply sleeping through their transition and going back to work as if nothing had happened."

"I'm a little surprised about that, but it's not going to last. Aria's dream makes that clear," he said grimly. "It still hasn't changed. Dahnai is still at risk, and nothing we've done has changed it. Or perhaps what we've done has caused it. God, sometimes I hate precogs," he sighed. "I just wish I had more to go on than her dream."

"We just have to keep trying, cousin," she told him. "But in the short term, for now, there seem to be no problems in the Imperium."

"I hope so," he said, accepting Chichi into his lap and scratching her between the ears. "That reminds me, what word from Tir Tairngire? How are they handling the Haumda and others that were infected?"

"The virus has spread there as fast as it did here. Nearly half of the Dreamers are infected or have already gone through transition. The Elders adopted your own position with their guests and non-Dreamer residents. So, there will be a significant number of Haumda who will be Generations."

"I…think I can live with that," he said quietly. "The Haumda aren't aggressive, at least in the way that concerns me most. This does mean we have to rethink our defense plans," he added wearily. "With the virus out, it raises the risk drastically that we'll will be attacked for our biogenic systems."

"Myri and the command staff are going to present something to you either late today or early tomorrow. Needless to say, your decision to expand the fleet three years ago was positively prophetic, cousin. Those ships will be absolutely vital now."

"We just need crews to man them," he grunted. "We need to up our recruitment efforts. Or God forbid, I may have to institute conscription in the house. The one thing I really, really didn't want to do."

"There's nothing wrong with conscription."

"There is when you don't want to do it," he replied. "I've never been a fan of the draft, Mee. It's my opinion that an unwilling soldier is a bad soldier. I'm just surprised we have this problem," he said, looking past her and into the city, which was busy again. "Not three years ago, we had so many people in the reserves and planetary guard that—" He sat up. "Maybe that's the answer," he said. "What if we allocate a portion of each fleet as a reservist ship? Manned primarily by reservists? And we could make service in the _reserves_ mandatory instead of active duty? That way everyone on the planet is trained to fight, but military service doesn't dominate their lives."

"It might work, but you need to talk to the command staff about that, cousin, not me," she replied.

"I'll definitely bring that up," he said, making a mental note. "And I need to go over to 3D and get them to work on new defense systems, stuff the others haven't seen yet. They saw a lot of our toys during the wars, and we haven't expanded the toy box much in the last three years."

"It would be good for you. Sitting in your office brooding is never a good thing, cousin. You are at your best when you're out there _doing_, not when you're sitting there _brooding_."

"Damn right," he said, standing up. "What about it, Chichi? Wanna go on a trip?" he asked her. "I'd love to have you along."

She gave an enthusiastic little chirp.

_[Dera, we're going to 3D. Get the carry sling for Chichi, she wants to go.]_

_ [I'll call in a corvette.]_

_ [I don't need a corvette.]_

_ [You do now. Captain Aya has increased security protocols until after the risk that a new telepath has a schism is reduced.]_

_ [Oh good grief,]_ he returned, disgust staining his thought, which caused Dera to return pure amusement.

_[I'll make sure it's a corvette captain you like,]_ she replied, half-seriously. _[I think Jax is currently in Karsa.]_

_ [I can go with that. I'd like to talk to her anyway, she always has her finger on the pulse of the city, thanks to her business. I can always rely on her for the outlook of the common woman.]_

The trip did wonders for his mood…or maybe it was just going to 3D. He spent five hours over there talking with some of his oldest friends, getting involved in several discussions about new devices they could build, new technologies they were working to develop inside the unassuming warehouse across the compound from the Shimmer Dome. He was over there so long it was past sunset when Jax dropped him off at home, and he sat down to a full dinner table. And much like the trip to 3D eased his mood, sitting at the table bantering with his wife and kids helped alleviate the burden he felt on his shoulders. The only drama in the evening was Amber and Twilight getting a bit sulky that they got whipped by Chichi in a game of mock-battle, since Jason rarely brought her home…but he'd been bringing her home much more often since she got left behind in the office. Chichi was smaller than Twilight, but she was much tougher and meaner, which made her the perfect tabi for Jason. Amber seemed doomed to be eternally small, so she ran for the hills after the first thirty seconds when she made the grievous error of pouncing on Chichi when Twilight turned tail and ran.

Even after three years, he still fumed a bit that he wasn't usually allowed to bring _his_ tabi home. So, he'd started taking her with him when he went out on excursions, letting her fulfill her role as empathic protector while he was on the move.

He was halfway down the beach on a evening stroll when Cybi called him. _[I'm sending a corvette down for you, Jason. You need to go to Tir Tairngire right now. You're the only person the wolves will listen to.]_

_ [Why for?]_

_ [The _wolves_ are being infected by the virus,]_ she replied. _[Their brains are sufficiently developed to accept being altered. Two of the youngers have fallen into comas, and the alphas are very agitated. So you need to go over there and explain things to them, calm them down.]_

_ [I didn't think that was possible,]_ he told her, almost incredulously, as he turned and hurried towards the dock on the far side of the beach.

_[I don't think any of us thought to check them. It hasn't affected any animals, but the wolves are far too evolved to really be considered _animals_. They're as smart as Terrans and they're developed enough for telepaths to understand their thoughts, after all. So if Terrans can be affected, we should have realized that they could be too.]_

_ [True enough,]_ he agreed darkly. _Aya, they're sending a corvette down, I need to go to Tir Tairngire right now,_ he called. _I may need my armor._

_ I'll have it brought down to the dock._

It wasn't a corvette that landed at the dock, it was a destroyer, and it raced him to the vacation house in the meadow in barely forty minutes. Jason all but jumped out of the hatch once it came down to a parking hover near the coast—bigger ships weren't allowed to land there to prevent damage to the meadow—and used the grav pods in the armor to get down to the ground. The wolves were in the shelter in the compound, and he greeted two very, very upset parents just outside the opening, the female rearing up and putting her paws on his shoulders, which would have driven him down to the ground were he not in armor. "It's alright, it's alright, we know what's wrong with them, and it's nothing life-threatening," he said soothingly, reaching up and putting his armored hand on her neck. "There's an illness spreading across the planet, and it looks like you're vulnerable to it the way the Dreamers are. But it's not a normal illness. It's going to affect all of you, and when it runs its course, things are going to be different for you."

The alpha male gave a short, urgent bark, looking down at him expectantly.

"I'll explain in a moment, I want to check them and make sure they're alright. Cybi, bring a hoverbike spinner from the armory to the shelter," he called.

_"I'm booting one up now."_

He entered the shelter and knelt by the youngest and smallest of the three cubs, one of the two females, and touched her mind tentatively. She was indeed in a coma, her mind was inactive, which was what the virus did when it entered the brain and started altering it to grant it telepathy, the ability to commune, and telekinesis. The spinner from a hoverbike entered the shelter, and he took control of it by commune and had it scan the three cubs—though they were all adults, they were still the alpha pair's cubs, and he always called them that. Cybi downloaded some updates into the spinner so it knew what to look for, and once it was updated, it showed that the two comatose wolves were indeed in the middle of transition, and both were showing no signs of complications or side effects.

"They're both alright," he announced. "The virus is affecting them the same way it's affecting the Dreamers, which means that things just got very complicated for all of you," he sighed.

The alpha female gave a short growling _whuff_.

"What this illness does is changes you to give you the abilities I have," he told them. "It will give you my ability to communicate mind to mind, and to hear the machines in the compound that speak to each other the same way. It will also give you the ability to move things without touching them the way you've seen me do it."

The male gave him a surprised look.

"I know it sounds good, and I guess from your perspective it can be," he said ruefully. "But it's caused us all kinds of problems over the last several days. Before there were only a small number of us, but now we know there will be so many of us that you couldn't understand the number. And it's even affecting species like you guys. I told you years ago that you may regret letting us move in, friend, and now that warning is coming back to haunt you," he sighed.

The female gave him an inquisitive look.

"No, but it can be dangerous for an untrained mind to have these abilities," he answered. "The danger comes when your telepathy expresses. Emotions fuel your power, and if your fear overwhelms you, it can cause you to lash out, become a danger to everyone around you. The most dangerous time for all of you is going to be after your telepathy wakes up but before you can learn the basics of how it works. This power can be dangerous, friends, very dangerous, and it's at its most dangerous when you have no control over it."

The male gave a dismissive snort.

"Easier said than done," he replied. "But if someone has to teach you, then I guess it's going to be me. After all, I can talk to you without having to use my mind. That may make it easier. But I can't stay here," he grunted. "Are you willing to go to my home for more than a few days? It will take time after the virus does its work before your telepathy expresses, and we can use that time before it happens to teach you more about it, and what's to come."

The alpha male blinked slowly.

"Alright. I'll have them send down some cargo sleds so we can move the cubs. But this does pose a problem. If the other packs are infected, then they'll have no one to help them. Cybi, bring in a sensor dropship and check the forest," he called. "Find out if other packs are infected. If so, have Yeri bring in one of her diplomats to fly low and slow over the forest and warn the packs what's happening to them. I don't want them to go into a panic, they might become dangerous to the Dreamers, or the Dreamers to them."

_"I'll call Yeri. There's a sensor dropship over at Joint Base Tau Sigma, I'll have it mobilize."_

"If needs be, I'll send people in that will teach them the basics of their new abilities," he told the alpha pair. "This illness is, in a strange way, our fault, so it's our responsibility to help those affected by it. We brought it here," he said simply.

The male snuffled.

"Yes, it's affecting more than just this world," he nodded. "It's rampant across Karis and dozens of worlds in the Imperium. And it was just detected on worlds in the Kirri empire. We've been trying to prevent it from spreading, but we're losing that battle."

The female looked at him curiously.

"Because while I may not object to people gaining the same abilities I have, I do object to what they may do with them," he replied. "I told you two long ago that I have a responsibility to ensure that anyone who uses Karinne technology must use it responsibly, with care and regard for the lives and well being of others. These abilities are no different, because they are abilities that were originally only possessed by members of the House. They come from us, they come from the Generations, so those that gain these powers must use them wisely and responsibly, the way we do. But the problem is, I can't force those outside of the house to obey the rules that we original Generations follow. So if they do wrong using these abilities, I'll feel that I'm ultimately responsible for the evil they do," he said strongly.

The two of them looked down at him steadily.

"That's what more than one other person has said, but I can't help feeling that way," he said as he patted the smaller female, who couldn't feel it because she was in a coma. "At least I know that you guys won't misuse it, so that's one small favor. Cybi, call back home and have Aya get the bay ready for our guests," he said. It wasn't the first time the wolves had visited Karis, so they had everything they needed to set up a guest bedroom of sorts for the pack in the mecha bay attached to the guard barracks. It was the only place on the strip that had doors big enough to easily accommodate them. "And try not to break anything this time," he added chidingly, looking at the alpha male.

He rolled his eyes, which needed no translation.

Four members of the crew arrived with large hoversleds used by maintenance teams to move around large equipment, and Jason helped move the comatose wolves to the destroyer, which had descended as far as it could without touching the ground. Jason had to resort to the tactical in his armor to lift the wolves up into the landing bay—they were too big to use a standard personnel hatch—and found that the crew had put out some blankets and pillows to give them a comfortable place to lay in the landing bay. The ship's doctor came down and gave the sleeping wolves an examination as the ship ascended up towards the Stargate, and she confirmed his diagnosis. "They're showing no complications or side effects. The virus is running its course in them the same way it has with every other species it's affected," she declared, looking up at the alpha pair. "They'll be just fine," she said reassuringly. "They'll wake up when the process is complete, which because of their size might take anywhere up to seventy hours. There's no real way for me to be more exact, not without knowing exactly when they went to sleep."

"About two hours ago," Jason supplied. "They called me not long after it happened."

"Oh. In that case, given their size, I'd say that they'll wake up in about sixty-eight hours," she predicted. "But that's a very rough estimate. The larger the host, the longer it takes for the virus to complete the transition. And I hope you don't find offense when I say that you all are quite large," she smiled up at the wolves.

"They see that as a complement, Doctor," Jason told her dryly. "Given the size of the alpha pair, how long will they be asleep when it affects them?"

"Perhaps as long as one hundred hours," she replied speculatively, looking up at them. "Given their sheer size, it will take the virus quite a while to complete the transition."

Jason got a tiny taste of their parental concern when the third cub went comatose on the trip over to Karis, which forced Jason to calm them down and explain things again in more detail, then he helped the guards bring the three sleeping cubs and two worried parents to the garage once they landed at the dock. The big beds had been laid out for them, and Jason tucked the three younger wolves into beds and sat with the parents as they stood vigil over their cubs. Songa came over and used a portable scanner to give the alpha pair a more indepth examination. "Both of you are well into transition," she announced. "You'll be going to sleep anytime now. I'd suggest that both of you get into a bed and stay there until that happens, you're a bit too big for us to easily move you."

"She wants to know why she doesn't feel sick," Jason translated.

"Because this virus doesn't make you sick in the way you'd normally associate with being ill," she answered.

"He wants to know why they'll go to sleep."

"Because the virus is going to change your brains to grant you the abilities of a Generation, and once it starts doing that, your brain can't do the normal things it does while the virus is changing the way it works. Your brain will effectively shut down until the process is complete, leaving only the autonomic functions working. So you'll sleep through the entire thing, and when you wake up, it will be over. I went through it myself, and I can promise you that it's painless and comfortable," she told them. "You won't even realize that it happened at first."

The male gave a low growling sound, then padded over to the largest of the beds. The female joined him, and they both laid down.

"I'll make sure the cubs are kept safe and protected," Jason assured them. "I won't let them off the strip. They've been here before, so they know better than to try to jump the fence." He chuckled. "Most likely, they'll spend most of the time waiting for you to wake up playing with the kids. You know how much they adore them."

The female gave a bit of a pant, then she shivered, closed her eyes, and her head very nearly dropped to the bed. The virus had reached her brain, and it had shut it down to begin its work.

"She's just started the transition," Songa told the male quickly. "She'll be alright. She'll sleep through it all and then wake up a new wolf. And so will you."

He gave a nervous whine and nuzzled her, then he too passed out, his head beside hers on the bed.

"And that's that," Jason said, stepping over and patting the male on the shoulder. "Now we wait for about five days for them to wake up."

"I'll put a medscanner in here to keep tabs on them," Songa offered.

"Thanks, dear. I just hope this doesn't cause a wholesale disruption of the ecosystem on Tir Tairngire," he mused. "The wolves are already efficient predators. I can only guess at how much more deadly they'll be when they're telepathic and able to coordinate in a way their prey can't detect. And once they master TK, watch out," he said, then laughed softly without much humor.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, dear. The wolves are very smart, but they're also very grounded. I'm sure they'll adapt to their new normal and work it into the lives they've chosen to live. After all, even though they come visit us and enjoy our technology, they always go back home and return to the lives they led before they met us. Much like the Parri, they have chosen that simple life, and I don't think this will change that."

"True enough," he agreed, patting the female. "In a weird way, I'm almost glad they were infected," he admitted. "If anything, it proves they're highly evolved, even if they look like animals."

"If there's one thing I've learned since coming here, dear, it's to never judge the book by its cover, as you Terrans say," she told him, patting him on the shoulder. "Now go get some rest. I'll get everything set up to keep an eye on them."

"Thank you, dear. I'm going to go home and read the latest reports, then try to get some sleep."

"Alright. Just remember, dear, things will look better in the morning."

_Raira, 6 Oraa , 4408, Faey Orthodox Calendar_

_ Wednesday, 19 September 2022 Terran Standard Calendar_

_ Raira, 6 Oraa, year 1333 of the 97__th__ Generation, Karinne Historical Reference Calendar_

_Foxwood East, Karis_

Things were both calming down and getting more nervous at the same time.  
Sitting on the beach in the late afternoon with all five wolves surrounding him, he finished up the day's lesson in telekinesis. All five had managed to access their TK, but they were still very clumsy with it. And unlike the other members of the house, Jason wanted the wolves to go home with a basic understanding of TK, since it was so useful to them. Since they didn't have prehensile hands or opposable thumbs, they had come to rely on TK as their primary means of manipulating objects.

This was the end of a long day for Jason, and the days were starting to blur together. He'd been working 20 hours a day every day since this mess started, training class after class of KMS officers in the daytime then coming home to train the wolves in the evening. And he wasn't doing anything less than the other original Generations. All of them were training classes day after day, some of them two or three classes a day. But they'd had enough time to start getting new Generations trained to the point where they could also teach classes, so more and more classes were being formed as new Generations were certified to teach. Jyslin was one of them, as were most of the strip girls, Seido, and Vell. Any Generation with sufficient mastery of their powers to be considered competent was now teaching the neophytes, which caused the training program to expand almost exponentially over the last takir. Jason was teaching two different classes of KMS officers, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon, then he was coming home to teach the wolves in the evening.

What was happening on Karis was also happening in the Imperium, and had started in the Kirri empire. Jason had accepted the first to be changed from the Kirri and trained them, and with the Imperium, he had trained the Imperial Marines permanently assigned to Karis, Kei and her unit, who were back on Draconis teaching right now. Those trained Generations were now training their own people. Krirara was back on Kirri'arr as an instructor, putting her project on hold, training classes of Kirri who would then train other Kirri, much the way they were doing it on Karis.

So far, the overall outlook was somewhat favorable in Jason's opinion. It had been 28 days since the virus was detected on Kirri'arr, and it had yet to be detected outside of Kirri territory. It had spread to every population center in Kirri space either on its own or by deliberate infection—which Jason approved, it would be impossible to keep the virus contained within Kirri'arr anyway—but had not spread beyond Kirri space. That was an eternal relief to Jason, allaying his greatest fear, that the virus had found its way to Subria.

Not that he disliked the Subrians and Holikk, but the Coalition getting infected would turn the political situation in the galaxy into an absolute quagmire.

But the virus did spread to one other empire over the last month, and that was the Collective. They should have seen that coming, since the Imperium and the Collective were so intermixed, particularly in the systems that were held jointly by the two empires. The virus had mutated to affect Urumi, proving that even the Draconis version of the volatile, and that had triggered an even harder quarantine, to keep that mutated virus in Collective space. There were a whole lot of non-Faey foreign nationals that lived on Draconis, and Dahnai didn't want them affected by the mutated virus. Much as Jason and Dahnai had done, Sk'Vrae had allowed the virus to spread through the Collective, because it was both nearly impossible to contain the virus on one planet due to the need to trade food back and forth and to accelerate the dying off of the virus by just getting it over with all at once instead of fighting a running battle with the virus over months, or maybe even years, and risking it mutating into something deadly.

Jason had mixed feelings about that, since the Urumi were very aggressive, but it did permanently cement the alliance between the Karinnes, the Imperium, and the Collective. They would all be Generations, all be cousins, and he had hopes that he and Dahnai could curb Sk'Vrae's more territorial impulses.

Or that he could curb both Sk'Vrae and Dahnai's impulses.

Thus far, the only real hitch in things was Tir Tairngire, and that was because many visitors to the planet had been infected by the mutated version of the virus and were currently trapped there by the quarantine. And they were residents of dozens of other empires within the Confederation, which made Jason very worried that those people might "mysteriously disappear" not long after returning home. He'd been discussing that with Zaa, who was developing a plan to keep an eye on those members of other empires that were infected. They were cousins now, Generations, and Jason would do everything he could to protect them.

Because now, they were _family_.

The last month had brought at least a modicum of resigned peace to Jason over the situation. So far, they'd had very few problems in either the house or the Imperium, and much like the house, it had brought the Imperium together in a way they hadn't been since the reconstruction after the Third Civil War. Jason could understand that to an extent, because their ability to sense their own made everyone seem at least familiar, almost like family, and it had had the curious effect on the Faey of making them much more considerate of each other. They certainly didn't think of themselves as family the way they did in the house, but it had definitely made the Faey in the Imperium feel closer to each other. That was a good thing in his opinion, since people who felt they had a connection to others weren't going to try to kill them.

But then again, they were Faey, so who knew.

Things had stayed remarkably calm and orderly both on Karis and in the Imperium, as people settled into this new normal that Jason was still trying to accept. And oddly enough, the first real sign of it came from the Interstellar Bachi League. They had suspended the season when the outbreak hit and the quarantine took effect, but they'd just announced that the season was back on, and matches would resume on Daira. The season would be shortened so the championship match would still take place on the usual day, and the usual rules about roster sizes and calling players up from the lower leagues after the cutoff date were going to be temporarily suspended to ensure that all teams could carry a full roster of both active and practice squad players. Bachi was back, and that would bring back a definite feeling that normalcy was returning to the Imperium and the House.

The IBL did, however, remind players via memo that using TK during a match was strictly prohibited, and doing so would lead to a 6 match suspension for the first offense, and a full season suspension for the second. That kind of draconian punishment would scare the players into not even thinking about it. A six match suspension could end a career. And that was probably a smart thing for the IBL to do, since now _everyone_ was a TK.

Or they would be, once they learned how to use it.

"Ease it back a little," he said aloud as the youngest of the cubs, the female, tried to manipulate a volume of water pulled out of the ocean. "Affecting liquids is about subtlety. Trying to brute force it just makes the water globe fall apart."

_[It's slippery,]_ she complained.

"I know. This is good practice to learn the light touch you need for more advanced applications, because later on I'll teach you an alternate means of using TK that makes it much easier to handle liquids. That approach has you affecting the space the liquid occupies, not the liquid itself."

_[Then why learn this?]_ she challenged.

"I told you, you need to learn how to do this so you can do other things. So stop being whiny."

She smacked him on the side with her tail, which made him chuckle.

He worked with the pack all the way up until dinner, which was served out on the deck with the wolves invited. It was a bit of a tight squeeze with five giant canines sharing space with his wife, _amu_, and their kids. _[I think maybe five or six more days, and you'll be ready to return to Tir Tairngire,]_ he told the alpha pair, which was communed openly. _[Once I teach you how to affect space itself, you'll know everything you need to know to function. I'll come over and teach you more if you want to learn, though.]_

_ [I think we'd like that,]_ the alpha male answered. They had names, but their names weren't expressible any way but telepathy or commune, for they were _scents_, not _words_. The unique scent of each wolf was its name. When unframed, those scents translated roughly in Jason's mind to what they most closely resembled from the smells he knew. So to him, the alpha pair were the male Cedar and the female Cinnamon, and their cubs were the male Pepper and the females Butterscotch and Honey. But he never addressed them by those nicknames. He could telepathically "pronounce" their scent-names, so he used those. _[But I think we'll like going home more. As nice as it is to visit our friends here, this is not home.]_

_ [I can understand that,]_ Tim answered. _[No matter how much fun it is to travel and see new things, nothing compares to _home_.]_

_ [What news of our sister packs in the forest?]_ the alpha male asked. Their species of wolf was actually not very populous. There were only about 16,000 of them spread among about 3,00 packs, occupying the forest and plain to the west that ran south of the mountain range, which cut off the south on both sides, on the planet. That forest was actually quite isolated, with many species that existed nowhere else on the planet due to the natural barriers of the mountains to the north and the ocean to the south

_[I think all of them accepted offers of help,]_ he answered. _[The Dreamers who have the most experience with TK volunteered to help teach them, so right now my instructors and the Dreamers are spreading out through the forest to arrange things with the packs. Quite a few of them have already figured out how to commune on their own,]_ he noted with an audible chuckle.

_[It's not that hard,]_ the alpha female declared.

_[No it's not. Since there are so few sentient minds out there, they're not having any real problems with not having closed minds. They're only hearing their own pack, and that doesn't bother them all that much. So the main thing we'll be teaching them is closing their minds, standard telepathy, and TK, which we hope will make life a little easier for them.]_

_ [It very much does,]_ the male cub agreed. _[I never knew how wonderful it could be to scratch every little itch with a tool I can move exactly where I want it to go.]_

_ [The science of telekinesis reduced to being a scratching post. Why do I teach you?]_ Jason teased, which caused the male to give him an amused look, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in the canine version of laughter.

_[We could fix that itching thing with a razor, you know,]_ Symone winked.

_[I dare you,]_ the male retorted as he bared his fangs, which made her laugh.

The wolves certainly did fit in around the strip. Quite a few people would miss them when they went home, and Jason would be one of them.

After dinner, he got in some quality time with the kids, both his own and others, playing with them out on the beach and on the deck, at least up until it was bedtime. Jyslin was still busy with all the paperwork from the IBL, since they'd be starting matches again on Daira but the Paladins were going to cause a major problem with the schedule. The quarantine at Karis was for the mutated virus, and as such the planet had to remain completely quarantined. What that meant was that, in all likelihood, the Paladins would have to forfeit at least three matches due to being unable to play, and those forfeits would be officially recorded as losses in the record. That seriously jeopardized the team's chances of making the playoffs, but there was simply no way around it. The team couldn't leave Karis, and other teams couldn't travel to the planet. Jyslin had been conferring with the IBL since the announcement to try to work something out, but the simple fact of the matter was, nothing could really be done. The rules were clear.

Her quandary brought her down to the living room as he played a video game with Rann, Shya, Zach, and Dara, as the kids taught her the ins and outs of merging as a Generation. _[Love, can we talk?]_

_ [When can we not?]_ he replied. _[Sorry kidlets, Jyslin needs me. You guys fight it out.]_

_ [You were losing anyway, Dad,]_ Rann teased.

_[Yeah, yeah, son, tomorrow we're playing Vanguard. We'll see how smarmy you are then.]_

Jason went up to Jyslin's office, which was filled with Paladins stuff and dominated by a poster of Evala Desarre, their sensational true rookie left striker, in her playing uniform on the far wall. A hologram of two older Faey appeared over her desk as they approached, which he recognized as IBL executives, a man and a woman. "Alright, he's here," Jyslin said, sitting at her desk. Jason stood beside her.

"What we wanted to know, Jason, is if it could be arranged for the Paladins to play exhibition matches during the time slots where they would usually have played using bionoids," the female Faey said. Her name was Sedla Meronne, a former IBL superstar that was now in the organization as an executive. "The matches wouldn't count as official, but at least it would give us something to present. Can you build about fifty bionoids with exacting specs that each team can field?"

"Easily," he replied. "And I think that's a great idea, by the way. You just need to send me the exact specs you want. I can make the bionoids stay within Faey physical limits, or we can drop the limits and let the players use bionoids that are super-Faey."

"We want them to stay within limits. In fact, we want you to build bionoids that match the physical stats and characteristics of the players as closely as you possibly can. We can send you the physical exam data from the teams you'd normally be playing, they have exact measurements of the players' strength, speed, and agility. We need the bioniods to be as close to those numbers as possible."

"We can do it. Hold on, lemme bring in my bionoid expert." He contacted Rook, and had him conference in via hologram. Jason explained what they wanted again where the execs could hear him, and Rook wasted no time.

_"I can do that easily,"_ he assured them. _"I can match the bionoid systems exactly to the medical data so the players will feel that they are merged to their own bodies instead of a bionoid. I can further hard code the bionoids so _only_ the bionoid's owner can merge to it. That will prevent any potential shenanigans."_

"That's an excellent idea," the male nodded. Jason didn't know his name, but knew his face. "But we want that data isolated from the Paladins," he said, glancing at Jyslin. "It may give them an unfair advantage."

_"I can do that,"_ Rook replied. _"You can send the data to my lab by crypto, that way the only one that sees that data is me. And I won't divulge it to Jyslin, no matter how much she begs."_

"Oh, bite me, Rook," she grated, which made Jason chuckle.

_"I will give you my contact number, so you can call my lab directly,"_ Rook told them. _"We can discuss how many bionoids you need and what systems and safeguards you want in them outside of Jyslin's knowledge. That way she doesn't have advanced knowledge of what the bionoids have in them or what they can do. That keeps the playing field fair."_

"Then I think we're done here," Sedla declared. "Thank you for arranging this, Jyslin. We'll call back after we talk to Rook and conference you in with Fara so we can hammer out the details." Fara was Fara Strovarre, owner of the Adori Assassins, who were in Division III. That would have been their opponent in Daira…and now were again, just not in an official match.

"I'm sure my girls will enjoy playing, even if it's just exhibition," Jyslin said. "We need to shake off the rust. With us having to forfeit three matches, we'll be up against the wall when the playoff chase starts."

"I'm sorry, Jyslin, but we have no choice. Rules are rules," she said simply. "But I'm sure that even with the three forfeits, the Paladins will make the playoffs. You've built quite an organization," she said approvingly.

"And you're not the only one that will have to forfeit matches. The Warriors are behind the Terran quarantine, they're facing the same problem," the male added.

When the conference was over, Jason leaned against her desk and looked down at her. _[I think this is gonna work out,]_ he told her.

_[Me too. It lets the girls get in some real quality practice in and hopefully won't bite too deeply into our profit margin with us losing the revenue from three matches. We can sell the exhibition tickets at a discount.]_

_ [I think enough people will be intrigued by the idea of bionoids controlled by IBL players playing an exhibition match to sell out the stadium,]_ he replied. _[And we'll still get the concession and merchandising revenue.]_

_ [Yeah. So, I think I'm gonna ship some military grade bionoids over to the practice facility for the morning,]_ she communed impishly. _[May as well get a head start on them acclimating to playing in bionoids.]_

_ [Cheater.]_

_ [I'm Faey, baby,]_ she replied shamelessly, grinning at him. _[And I know how much bad girls turn you on,]_ she added, lust staining her thought a little bit.

_[I've been known to fantasize about bad girls from time to time,]_ he communed playfully. _[But I'm not sure you're bad enough to live up to my expectations.]_

_ [You just earned yourself a long night of being proven wrong, baby. After the conference call, anyway.]_

_ [I'm all aflutter with anticipation,]_ he teased.

_[Go upstairs and get out my whips and chains,]_ she ordered with a wink.

The whips and chains, however, would have to wait. He was contacted by Chirk as he was putting the girls down to bed, but he wasn't about to walk out on his girls when reading them a bedtime story. He finished that most important of tasks, got them tucked in and ready for the night, and then went up to his home office. A hologram of Zaa was waiting for him, and holograms of Dahnai, Krazrou, and Sk'Vrae appeared beside it once he was at his desk. "News, cousin," Zaa said without preamble.

"Good or bad?"

"Bad," she replied. "It affects us all, so I have called the other cousins into this conference."

"I will never get used to hearing that," Sk'Vrae noted.

"Have you finished the transition, Sk'Vrae?" Krazrou asked.

She nodded, her crest bobbing. "Last takir," she confirmed.

"Then let me welcome you, cousin," Krazrou said with a nod of his head.

"The reason for this conference is for us to make a decision, all of us, on something that affects us as a whole," Zaa continued. "My children have come to learn that two separate empires have acquired samples of the virus, but as of yet have not used them. Those are the Jirunji and the Subrians," she declared, which made Jason frown. The Coalition getting their hands on the virus was Jason's worst case scenario. It might provoke a war between the two over biogenic technology. "We've learned that the Jirunji have something else in mind for the virus. They have learned about that Generations can sense their own and consider them family, and seek to use it to solve the biologically driven hostility of the males of their species," she explained. "While they're certainly not looking down at the other aspects of Generations, they see the simple fact that their race must restrict their males to one planet, and the male population is restricted by the number of them they can safely put in a small space, as potentially crippling liabilities of the species. It's Sovial's hope that they can somehow modify the virus to edit Jirunji genes so males don't try to kill each other when in close proximity.

"The Subrians are holding onto the virus for a different reason. They see great benefit in their race becoming Generations, but Holikk has many of the same concerns as you, Jason. He fears that it may start a war, but not the Confederation against the Coalition. He fears that if too many species are changed, that the Generations reach such numbers that they represent a sizable portion of the galaxy, it might set off a war between the Generations and the rest of the galaxy. After what they saw the Generations do during the Syndicate War, there is a real fear among many empires that the Generations might become conquerors now that there are so many of them spanning multiple empires. Simply put, Holikk is holding on to the virus until he decides what best to do to prevent that war. Be it releasing it intentionally to make more species Generations, putting everyone on an even playing field, or researching it to find some way to impair or stop any changed species that suddenly becomes aggressive."

He wasn't the only one that was silent. Jason had considered that possibility, that the rest of the galaxy would turn on the Generations out of fear, and he felt a tiny bit justified that someone else had the same worry, someone that was so afraid of it that it was staying his hand despite having the virus. And it fit with Subrian mentality. Despite being the most technologically advanced empire in the Coalition and having incredibly powerful weapons and war machines, the Subrians were actually a very peaceful race. That was one reason why the Karinnes got along with them so well. They were that main force that held the Coalition's more aggressive empires in check, both because they had so much influence within the Coalition and because they could kick the rest of the Coalition's ass if it came down to a civil war. The Authority was the most powerful member of the Coalition economically, scientifically, and militarily.

"I think what the Denmother suggests is that it is beyond time that we all sat down and discussed this situation, calmly, rationally, logically, and with an eye towards establishing permanent solutions," Krazrou spoke up. "And not just us. Everyone. The virus and the expansion of the Generations as a race is a matter of great importance to every empire and species in the entire galaxy. I think we should call a summit on Terra to discuss this in detail, so we might avoid the war that Holikk fears may happen."

"Kraz has a point," Dahnai agreed. "There's only the four of us, and we can't stand up to the rest of the galaxy by ourselves, not even with Jason's biogenic tech backing us up. There's just too many of them."

"I would agree," Sk'Vrae nodded. "And with outside empires holding samples of the virus, there exists a real chance that this could turn into a pandemic that could transform a large portion of the galaxy. If the Subrians and the Jirunji got hold of the virus, it means that there may be samples of it still lurking on Kirri freighters that left Kirri space before the quarantine was put into effect. I would assume that is how they got the virus."

Zaa nodded. "Recovered from sealed containers on Kirri ships holding infected symbiotes. Both empires have the technology to keep the viral samples viable despite them having a life span, as well as the capability of mass producing it."

"I can see what's driving Sovial," Jason sighed. "The male issue in their race is a major problem for them. It restricts their ability to colonize and it causes them a tremendous number of headaches because they have to be so careful about unrelated males not crossing paths. But I'm honestly not sure if being a Generation would fix that for them. If it could, I might be inclined to give her my blessing to use the virus. The Jirunji are the kind of species I could live with being Generations. They're not aggressive, they're honorable, and they're loyal. The problem is the Subrians," he sighed. "Much as I admire the Subrians as a people, my worst case scenario is the Coalition getting their hands on the virus. I'm convinced that it would trigger a war, because the Coalition would try to get biogenic technology. They'd have the first half of the key to military dominance, and wouldn't stop until they got the other half."

"That is something we might be able to resolve at a summit," Krazrou suggested. "And I think there is something else that we might propose that might help our cause."

"What is that, Kraz?" Dahnai asked.

"Giving the rulers of the empires what Kreel and Enva already have," he said. "If the _rulers_ are Generations, it might give us a means of keeping the peace among the empires in the galaxy, because the rulers are _us_."

"That may work for an empire like the Verutans, but what about an empire that has an elected leader that changes regularly, like the Alliance or the Koui? Or your own people, Kraz?" Jason asked. "Each change of leadership adds another Generation to the species, and over time, they'll become a segment of the population. And that would cause many more problems in the long run as it solves in the short run."

"Jason, if you look at this with an eye for the future and use some logic, you'll see that what you describe is the inevitable outcome," Krazrou said calmly. "Denmother admitted to me that while this virus was engineered, there was an instance on Karis several years ago where a virus was spontaneously mutated by Generation DNA to become a retrovirus, and it affected several people before it was contained. The virus that changed us mutated from the engineered version that was released on Draconis, showing that even a carefully engineered virus can mutate to affect new species. A natural virus would be even more volatile, because it would not be carefully designed to be as stable as possible. It is a simple and inevitable conclusion that in time, maybe a few millennia, the entire galaxy will eventually all be Generations. What we should be doing now is making sure that we plant the seeds that will make that very long process peaceful and smooth, to prevent a genocidal race war in the future that pits us against the those who are not changed. We must protect ourselves from that outcome, because all of our races are now affected by its outcome. Terran, Faey, Urumi, Kirri, we will all ultimately be Generations, and if that war comes, it will come against _us_. We must use negotiation and diplomacy to prevent the war Holikk fears, but also set in motion a plan to prevent that war in the future, when there is a time that there are far more Generations than _just_ us, enough of us to cause non-Generations to fear us. That time will come. It is inevitable. And since it is inevitable, we must prepare for it."

Jason gave him a startled look, one shared by Dahnai and Sk'Vrae. But the _logic_ of his observation was solid. Generation DNA was volatile enough, and it was already proved that it had the ability, under the right conditions, to spontaneously create a retrovirus capable of changing others into Generations themselves. Dahnai was all the proof he needed of that. "You told him that, Zaa?"

"Of course I did," she replied calmly. "He is now a cousin. That information is not so sensitive that it needed to be kept from him."

"Well you didn't tell _me_," Dahnai said archly, which was a brilliant bit of acting.

"You didn't ask questions that necessitated the release of that information, Dahnai," she replied simply.

"Kimdori," Dahnai snorted in disgust.

"Krazrou…has a point," Sk'Vrae injected. "If this is true, that Generations can spontaneously produce the retrovirus, then we would be looking at two options. Either walling ourselves off from the universe, or accepting that eventually, perhaps next year or perhaps in ten thousand years, it happens again and new Generations are born from another virus. And that eventually, the virus will become a pandemic that will sweep across the galaxy. Walling ourselves off from the universe is not a realistic alternative," she said calmly. "Not when the universe now has such a vested interest in keeping us from isolating ourselves. So I think we should discuss the idea of a summit, with the objective of ensuring that the Generations do not become the enemy of the unchanged. After all, they will eventually become _us_, so we should not fight them."

"Okay, that is the creepiest freakin' thing I have ever heard you say, Sk'Vrae," Jason grunted. "The _unchanged_? They're not eggs, or raw material! They're _people_! Giving them a label like that suggests that they're not fine just the way they are! We are _not_ better than them, Sk'Vrae, we are simply _different_! Good grief, it's that kind of attitude I've worked my ass off over the last fourteen years to prevent! It's that mentality that made me _glad_ the Merranes destroyed my ancestors, because the idea that they were superior to the rest of the Faey had taken hold of the Generations of that time!"

"I don't mean it that way, Jason," she told him. "I only meant to describe a truth. Those who are not Generations are unchanged."

"But it suggests that they're _incomplete_ the way they are," he retorted. "You have to be careful in what you say and what you think, Sk'Vrae, else the temptation that our power represents can seduce you. Every one of us original Generations lives by a strict set of rules that prevents us from thinking we're better than everyone else, because we're _not_, and that is one reason why the other members of the House accept us. They know we live by those rules, they know we take their privacy and their rights seriously, so they trust us. That kind of thinking can set off the very war that both me and Holikk fear might happen, and it can start with the most innocent comment or idea, like calling them _unchanged_. That kind of thinking was why my ancestors were starting to build war machines just before the Third Civil War. If that war wouldn't have happened, then maybe twenty or thirty years after they began their military buildup, it would have been the _Karinnes_ starting that war as they moved to supplant the Empress and put a Karinne on the throne. Put someone they felt was _superior _to the Empress on the throne," he said intensely. "The Generations that ruled the house at that time were starting to believe that they were better than the rest of the Imperium, and it was just blind luck that saved the Imperium from the Karinnes."

"Listen to Jason, cousins," Zaa said strongly. "Think back over the years over how Jason has acted, both in official settings and in more casual settings. He is always exceptionally careful not to make the Generations seem _intimidating_, which might cause others to fear them, while still ensuring that everyone knows that their power will make them a force that they do not want to cross. It is this balancing act that has been his greatest success as the Grand Duke."

"It wasn't quite as successful as you may think, Denmother," Sk'Vrae told her. "Quite a few of the rulers I've spoken to have been quite concerned about the Generations after seeing how they performed in the Syndicate war. They made KMS ships all but invulnerable thanks to them warping space, and more than one ruler worried that those invulnerable ships may someday be used against _them_. It was the primary impetus that caused the Coalition to leave the Confederation."

"That's completely illogical," Krazrou protested. "Staying in the Confederation would ensure that the Karinnes would never attack them."

"Logic has little place in fear, Krazrou," Sk'Vrae answered simply. "They had no idea the Generations were _that_ powerful, _because_ Jason has constantly played down their—our abilities. To see them then unleashed against the Syndicate, it jarred quite a few of the members of the council."

"Sk'Vrae does speak truth in that regard. Almost every large empire in the galaxy that knows of the Karinnes is engaged in secret research to come up with some way to bypass the spatial warping powers of the Generations," Zaa told them, almost casually.

"The only way to stop that is with another telekinetic," Jason said immediately.

"Yes, but they don't know that yet," Zaa nodded. "And that brings us to Krazrou's recommendation. I think it would behoove us to have that summit, cousins. Krazrou speaks a truth, that there is a very good chance that another virus will manifest, and it will change more people. We need to take steps now to ensure that such an event doesn't trigger the kind of war that the Jun wage."

"We need to talk about this anyway, and it needs to be more than the council," Jason grunted. "A potential galaxy-wide pandemic concerns _everyone_, no matter what the virus does to those it infects. We should talk about cooperating to come up with quarantine protocols and supporting quarantined empires so their economies don't crash and their people starve. And since Terra is quarantined, we can ask Mesaiima if the Imbiri might host the summit on their homeworld. Their neutrality is beyond doubt."

"I think that's a good idea," Dahnai agreed.

"Yes, Mesaiima would be the perfect choice," Krazrou concurred. "We can make it a comprehensive summit, discussing the current situation and planning for possible future outbreaks. And most importantly, set in motion a plan to ensure that the galaxy does not try to wipe us out," he finished emphatically.

"We can discuss that more later. It's late here and I'm tired, and I want to think about this a little bit before we start making any solid decisions. So I'd like us to break for a few hours and reconvene at a time most convenient for all four of us," he offered. "And I think we should include Kim in that discussion. The Terrans should have a seat at the table when we discuss matters that will affect them."

"That is a good point," Krazrou agreed. "And the break will give me time to consider the issue and present a more comprehensive argument when we reconvene."

"I don't have a problem with it, but we should contact Mesaiima immediately and ask her if she'll host the summit. We can discuss what we're going to talk about at it later on."

"Agreed," Sk'Vrae nodded. "The summit must take place for the good of the galaxy as a whole."

"Then that is what we shall do," Zaa announced. "Jason, you have the best relationship with Mesaiima. You contact her and make the inquiry. We can reconvene in eleven standard hours, which is daytime or early evening for everyone. Is there objection to eleven hours?"

"That'll work for me," Jason said.

"Works for me, cousin," Dahnai nodded.

"It's a touch early for me, but I have no objection. I'm an early riser anyway," Krazrou smiled.

"It's a good time for me, Denmother," Sk'Vrae finished.

"Very good. Then we'll meet again at 09:30 tomorrow Confederation Universal Time."

"I'll call Mesaiima right now," Jason told them. "And I'd prefer to discuss things face to face," he added. "Since all three of our empires are still undergoing conversion, it's not going to screw up anyone's countdown timer for us to meet in person. I know it's breaking quarantine, but with the Draconis virus now mutated to affect Urumi, I think it's a moot point," he said dryly. "We'll have to maintain the overall quarantine, but I think we can bend the rules a little to let you all onto the planet."

"Actually, we should meet off the planet, just to be safe," Zaa suggested. "Someplace both completely out of reach of the others but comfortable for all of us. Jason, we should erect a temporary meeting place on Oasis," she proposed. "It's remote, in a place so far that an interdictor will have time to reach full power before anyone can get there, and the planet has an agreeable climate for all of us. Plus, it traps the virus on a world where it won't matter," she concluded. "The only people have already been infected by the virus. So it can do nothing to them."

"I think that's a fantastic idea, I've always wanted to visit Oasis again," Dahnai smiled. "The last time I was there I didn't get a chance to enjoy the planet's beauty."

"I can set that up, if nobody minds roughing it in a stop and drop," Jason said.

"A what?" Krazrou asked.

"Sorry, it's KMS slang for prefab buildings that they set down to set up command posts and forward operation positions," he explained. "We have prefabs that have fairly large conference rooms in them that allows the forward operations staff to plan troop movements. They can drop an operations buildings down to host us while we're there, but to warn you guys, they're not all that luxurious. They're military, so they're built to be practical, not fancy."

"It'll be like going on an archaeology dig. Besides, we can always sleep in staterooms on the fleet flagship that brings us there if the conference goes past a single day," Dahnai smiled. "Just make sure they drop it on a beach."

"I can do that," he chuckled. "Kraz? Sk'Vrae?"

"It works for me, Jason," Krazrou answered. "You know that Kirri are not demanding of pomp and circumstance."

"I find it acceptable," Sk'Vrae said.

"Then I'll send down the order," he said. "Denmother, could you please invite Kim to the meeting while I talk to Mesaiima?"

"Of course, cousin," she answered.

They ended the conference, and Jason tracked down Mesaiima. It was early morning on Imbiri, so she was in her office, the unmatched beauty of the forest beyond the capitol city visible through a window behind her when her hologram winked on over his desk. "Hello, Jason," she smiled. "What is so important that you'd take devote time from managing the situation there to talk to me?"

"I've been in talks with the Denmother, and she feels that it would be best for everyone if we held a summit to discuss the situation," he replied. "And not just those of us being affected by it. She wants to invite everyone, every single known spacefaring race in the galaxy, because what's going on has the potential to affect every single one of us. She felt that it would be best to hold this summit on Imbiri, since Terra is quarantined," he told her. "The neutrality of the Imbiri is beyond reproach, and your people have experience hosting emissaries and diplomats to hold talks. And of course, you would be the one in control of the summit, Mesaiima," he added.

"I can understand Zaa's reasoning for calling a summit," she said with a nod. "And I believe that it's a good idea. Let me discuss it with my advisors and get back in touch with you, Jason."

"Can you call back in about ten hours? I'm about to go to bed. It's late here."

"It'll take us that long to come up with a framework," she smiled. "Have you told anyone else about this?"

"Just Dahnai, Sk'Vrae, and Krazrou," he answered. "We were having a meeting about the quarantine efforts and Denmother brought up the need for a general summit of all races in the galaxy to discuss the epidemic and make some plans."

"Alright. I'll discuss it with my advisors and call you back in ten hours."

"Sounds good. Talk to you then, my friend."

She smiled, then her hologram winked out. Almost the second her hologram vanished, a comm query on a dedicated channel hit his panel, which was a direct line that Kim had to him. The Korean's face appeared on a hologram. "Denmother just talked to me," he said in Korean. "I can attend the meeting, Jason."

"Good. I'll make arrangements for a ship to pick you up and bring you to the meeting place."

"When?"

"I don't have a solid time yet, but it'll be sometime tomorrow my time. In about twenty hours or so Terra time," he answered. "I was just about to contact the KMS and have them send over the stuff we need for the meeting."

"I thought it was being held on Karis?"

He shook his head. "Oasis. Since we're all under our own quarantines, we felt it best to have the meeting on a planet where it won't matter if the virus mutates again and gets out. The only things on the planet are a sensor outpost and a small farming operation, and both of them are on the other side of the planet from where we're going to meet."

"So, just us? No staff?'

"The smaller the staff the better," he answered. "We can conference in any staff that we need to talk to via crypto commune. The only staff I'm bringing is Cybi. The Imperial Guard will serve as security for the meeting."

"That's all you need," he said dryly.

"Been holding up, Duk?" he asked.

"I haven't quite gotten the hang of telepathy yet," he said with a wry smile. "It just seems to evade me for some reason."

"It's a skill, Duk, just keep practicing and you'll get it. Can you close your mind?"

"Oh yes, first thing I learned. That's not hard at all."

"Then that'll hold you over until you get the hang of it," Jason told him. "That's the most important part of it anyway."

"Yes, we're getting more and more cases of Terrans suffering schisms," he said soberly. "The expression rate is higher than we predicted, and we're scrambling to find enough trained telepaths to teach the newly expressed how to close their minds."

"Are the online classes helping?'

"For some, but not for everyone," he replied. "I'm one of those people that just did not get far at all with the online tutoring. I tried that approach first so I wasn't taking a valuable trainer away from someone more needful than me, but I just couldn't grasp the concept until I got personal instruction. But once a telepath showed me how to do it, I picked it up fairly quickly."

"Talk to Ayuma, she might be able to spare more instructors from the Academy."

"I already did, Jason. Trust me, every single trained telepath on Terra is part of the training effort. We've drafted absolutely everyone, even office workers from private corps. Right now, the primary focus of virtually every person on this planet is getting the expressed trained enough so they don't suffer any problems until they can be more properly trained."

"I…might be able to help with that," he said. "A telepath doesn't necessarily need to be in the same room with the students. I might be able to dispatch some KMS personnel to Karis and have them train without leaving their corvettes, or even use fighters and exomechs, that way they don't break quarantine. We can decon the units fairly easily just by using charged decon mode for their IP armor. The IP will fry any virus or viral components on the hull, we've already tested that out and found it works."

"I'd appreciate the help, Jason, but don't you need those telepaths for Karis? I know that the majority of your population aren't telepathic. Karis is in the same position as Terra at the moment."

"You need help, Duk," he said. "And I have a hell of a lot more telepaths on Karis than you do on Terra."

"Which you need right now, my friend. I'll talk to Dahnai about getting Faey telepaths to help," he said. "If the Imperium's version of IP will decon their ships, she can send more people."

"We didn't test it using their IP system," he frowned. "But maybe we can work together. I can send mecha to Karis and have the telepaths ride in them while they're being piloted by remote. The mecha can just hover over the building where the students are being trained. The trainer doesn't have to be in the room, just close enough to send to the students."

"Can you send them personal armor with your IP system in it?"

"Armor requires an exact fit to wear without it injuring the wearer, Duk," he shook his head. "We'll go with your idea. Let's bring Dahnai into this. And Songa and Myli."

"Why them?"

"So we can have them find out if the Imperium's IP tech will kill the virus," he replied.

Once the others were conferenced in, they got answers quickly. "Yes, Imperium IP will kill the virus, dear," Songa told him once she was part of the discussion.

"She had us run those tests a while ago," Myleena added. "We tested every affected empire's IP against the virus, and all of them are effective. Any IP system with a purge mode can kill the virus, and all four of the infected empires have that in their IP systems."

"Then help is on the way, Kim," Dahnai declared. "I'll call up some infantry from the house militaries and deploy them to Terra immediately. How does twenty thousand more trainers sound? Will that solve your problem?"

"I don't know for sure, Dahnai, but I think we may need more."

"Then I'll send fifty thousand," she said immediately. "And if they're not enough, I'll keep sending them until there are."

"Cynna can help you organize those trainers, Kim," Jason offered. "She's got some extra time at the moment with the KMS more or less being on standby due to the virus. I'll send her to your emergency planners so she can use that brain of hers to help you organize."

"I'd be glad for the help of a CBIM, Jason," Kim nodded appreciatively.

"Hear that, Cynna?" he called, looking up.

_"I'm accessing Terra's government computer network to download the necessary information as we speak, Jason,"_ she answered from the speaker in the ceiling. _"As soon as Dahnai sends me a list of trainers, I can start getting them organized."_

"I'll have to talk to Lorna before I can tell you who and how many, Cynna."

_"That's fine, Dahnai. I can get some of the work done while I'm waiting for it."_

"You are never truly alone in that room, are you, Jason?" Kim asked lightly.

"I'm used to it," he replied dryly as Cynna manifested a hologram in the room, already sitting demurely on her hip on the corner of his desk, much the way Cybi and Cyra loved to do. "It's standard operating procedure for all the CBIMs to monitor my official communications. And sometimes they eavesdrop on my private ones," he said, giving Cynna a cool look.

_"_So, if you're always listening, why no hologram, Cynna?" Kim asked.

_"To present the illusion that Jason is competent enough to do things on his own,"_ she winked, which made Dahnai burst into laughter. Jason swatted her hip irritably, which made contact because she was using a hard hologram. _"Seriously, though, we only manifest if we're an active part of the discussion. It keeps things orderly around here. Trelle knows, Cyvanne would be injecting herself into everything every time Jason talked to anyone."_

_ "Don't start harping at me, sister,"_ Cyvanne threatened over the speaker.

"Well, Cyvanne is a rather naughty girl. That's why she's my favorite," Dahnai grinned.

_"Brave words with me sitting right here, Dahnai,"_ Cynna retorted, looking at her hologram.

_"And those not sitting right there,"_ Cybi added.

_"I think the summer palace mainframe is due for a bit of customization,"_ Cybri threatened sweetly.

_"I say we reprogram her bionoid and let it loose on the streets of Karsa,"_ Cyra countered. _"That would be far more embarrassing."_

"Just keep the war small enough to easily clean up the mess afterward," Jason ordered, which made Cynna smile roguishly. "You ready to rock, Cynna?"

_"Ready. I'll be over in your emergency operations center in a few minutes, Kim. Just warn them I'm coming. All I need is that list from Dahnai and I'll have a plan ready for Kim by the time he gets there."_ "I'll call Lorna right now, Cynna. I'll have her send over the list as soon as she compiles it."

_"I'll make sure those troops know exactly where to go when they get here."_

"Good deal," Dahnai nodded.

They organized a few minor points, then the meeting broke up, leaving Jason alone in the office with Cynna sitting on the desk. _[You look worried,]_ she noted as she looked at his face.

_[I am worried,]_ he communed to the comm node in his office, which let the CBIMs and CBMOMs hear him. They were the only ones with free access to that node. _[Krazrou's argument was solid, and it honestly scares me to death. He might be right. We may be looking at a scenario where, eventually, every spacefaring race in the galaxy is a Generation. And he's also right about the potential for war. Terra has way too many examples of how both fear and a sense of superiority over others in the many genocides that took place over our history. The atrocities committed by the Huns, Persians, and Romans in the ancient period, the persecution of the Jews during the middle ages, the Armenian genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire, Stalin's purge of Soviet citizens and the genocide in the Ukraine, the Holocaust, the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot. Millions of Terrans died because others were either afraid of them or didn't think they were _human enough_ to have the right to live. And now the Generations may be looking at the same scenario.]_

_ [That's why he's right that we need to bring the galaxy together to talk about this, to not allow that fear to take hold or spread.]_

He nodded. _[But I'm not sure I like the idea that eventually, the entire galaxy will be Generations. It makes me fear that we will become the monsters that I have worked so hard to prevent us from being,]_ he communed, worry and concern straining his thought. _[I've said it many times, girl, that the Generations have the potential to be the worst villains the universe has ever seen. And some small, nihilistic part of me wonders if I should be angry if the galaxy declares war on the Generations and tries to wipe us out,]_ he conveyed grimly. _[I've never felt angry about the Merranes wiping out the Karinnes, because I saw where the Karinnes were going before the war broke out. I felt that the Merranes may have saved the Imperium from _us_, and God did they pay for it by being forever branded with the stigma of the atrocity they committed against Karis. If the galaxy declares war on us…do we have the _right_ to fight back?]_ he asked poignantly.

_[We do, because we are _not_ the monsters,]_ Cynna told him firmly. _[What our descendants may be or what they may do does not change who we are now. And right now, in this place, we have the right to live because we respect life, we respect the rights of others, because we are _not_ the monsters that you fear we may become. And so long as you are here guiding the newcomers, guiding our people, that will never come to pass,]_ she communed with love and loyalty and devotion, putting her hand on his face gently. _[It's time for you to do what you do best, Jason, and that's move people with your words and with your example. Show the new Generations outside the house what it_ means_ to be a cousin, the way you've inspired the people of the House to live up to the ideals and standards of the original Generations. Put them on the proper path that the original Generations have followed since the restoration of the house. Show the galaxy that the Generations are not their enemy. The _shaman_ says that your greatest strength is speaking from your heart, and that people will listen to you when you do. It's time to prove her right, Jason,]_ she declared, sliding her hand down and pressing her fingertips against his chest. _[Tell everyone what's in here, and they'll listen to you.]_

_ [When did you get so smart, girl?]_ he asked with a slight smile.

_[You programmed me to be curious, Jason. It's your fault if you weren't paying attention to what I've been curious about the last four years,]_ she winked.

He gave a wry chuckle, reaching up and putting a hand on her cheek. She leaned over and pressed her holographic forehead against his own. _[I'm so glad I built all of you,]_ he communed sincerely.

_[I'm glad too, else I wouldn't exist,]_ Cynna replied cheekily. _[But thank you for the complement. I'm glad you're the closest thing to a father I could have. I'm honored to be a part of your family, Jason.]_

_ [You are. All of you are. The CB units are as much family to me as my own children,]_ he told her, his thought backing up the words themselves. _[I love all of you. Even Cyvanne, God help me.]_

_ [Hey!]_ she protested, but her objection was brimming with love and amusement.

_[Now I think I'd better go back downstairs before Jys comes looking for me,]_ he communed, patting Cynna on the holographic cheek gently. _[I made her a few promises that she'll be intent on me keeping.] _


End file.
